Automated Leopard Alert And Reporting Mechanism Using Deep Learning

Today, rapid infrastructure development is taking place in major metropolitan cities, but unfortunately, this progress often involves the destruction of forest reserves, leaving wild animals homeless. The resulting environmental invasion forces these animals to venture into the cities, posing threats to citizens. In Mumbai, there have been numerous sightings of leopards and other wild animals near forested areas. Leopards have been known to attack street dogs, people, and vehicles, making it necessary to work on this problem. This paper suggests the utilization of deep learning models and object detection techniques to detect leopards and other potential threats. By integrating this technology with security applications, citizens can be made aware of the existence of wild animals in their vicinity. This research primarily focuses on addressing the concern of leopard sightings in Mumbai. The objective is to automate leopard detection and reporting using an object detection algorithm. In the proposed system, images of leopards are collected from an existing dataset available on Roboflow, comprising a total of 1000 samples. The proposed model's performance is evaluated using Mean Average Precision (mAP) & detection speed. The proposed method achieves an impressive mAP of 95.9% at a speed of 37 frames per second

Induction of Robust Immune Responses in Swine by Using a Cocktail of Adenovirus-Vectored African Swine Fever Virus Antigens

The African swine fever virus (ASFV) causes a fatal hemorrhagic disease in domestic swine, and at present no treatment or vaccine is available. Natural and gene-deleted, live attenuated strains protect against closely related virulent strains; however, they are yet to be deployed and evaluated in the field to rule out chronic persistence and a potential for reversion to virulence. Previous studies suggest that antibodies play a role in protection, but induction of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) could be the key to complete protection. Hence, generation of an efficacious subunit vaccine depends on identification of CTL targets along with a suitable delivery method that will elicit effector CTLs capable of eliminating ASFV-infected host cells and confer long-term protection. To this end, we evaluated the safety and immunogenicity of an adenovirus-vectored ASFV (Ad-ASFV) multiantigen cocktail formulated in two different adjuvants and at two immunizing doses in swine. Immunization with the cocktail rapidly induced unprecedented ASFV antigen-specific antibody and cellular immune responses against all of the antigens. The robust antibody responses underwent rapid isotype switching within 1 week postpriming, steadily increased over a 2-month period, and underwent rapid recall upon boost. Importantly, the primed antibodies strongly recognized the parental ASFV (Georgia 2007/1) by indirect fluorescence antibody (IFA) assay and Western blotting. Significant antigen-specific gamma interferon-positive (IFN-γ(+)) responses were detected postpriming and postboosting. Furthermore, this study is the first to demonstrate induction of ASFV antigen-specific CTL responses in commercial swine using Ad-ASFV multiantigens. The relevance of the induced immune responses in regard to protection needs to be evaluated in a challenge study

Potentiometric Studies on the Protonation Constants and Protonation Energies of Some Diamines in Methanol + Water Mixtures

The protonation constants of diamines such as ethylenediamine, 1,2-diaminopropane, 1,3-diaminopropane, o-phenylenediamine, m-phenylene-diamine, p-phenylenediamine were determined on the basis of Bjerrum and Calvin method in methanol-water mixtures. A pH metric method was used for calculation of protonation constants. The effects of solvents on protonation constant have been determined at ionic strength 0.2 M dm-3 (NaClO4) and temperature 30±0.1oC under nitrogen atmosphere. FORTRAN (IV) programs were used for calculation of protonation constants and distribution of species like H2L, HL, L in equilibrium state. The logarithm of the protonation constants decrease in aliphatic diamines and increase in aromatic diamines with increase in methanol content in mixed equilibria. The verification of constants are explained on the basis of solute-solvent interaction, solvation, proton transfer processes and dielectric constant of equilibria. Protonation energies have been calculated theoretically using computational methods and these protonation energies for aromatic diamines are higher than aliphatic diamines

Recent advancements in nanomaterial-mediated ferroptosis-induced cancer therapy: Importance of molecular dynamics and novel strategies

Ferroptosis is a novel type of controlled cell death resulting from an imbalance between oxidative harm and protective mechanisms, demonstrating significant potential in combating cancer. It differs from other forms of cell death, such as apoptosis and necrosis. Molecular therapeutics have hard time playing the long-acting role of ferroptosis induction due to their limited water solubility, low cell targeting capacity, and quick metabolism in vivo. To this end, small molecule inducers based on biological factors have long been used as strategy to induce cell death. Research into ferroptosis and advancements in nanotechnology have led to the discovery that nanomaterials are superior to biological medications in triggering ferroptosis. Nanomaterials derived from iron can enhance ferroptosis induction by directly releasing large quantities of iron and increasing cell ROS levels. Moreover, utilizing nanomaterials to promote programmed cell death minimizes the probability of unfavorable effects induced by mutations in cancer-associated genes such as RAS and TP53. Taken together, this review summarizes the molecular mechanisms involved in ferroptosis along with the classification of ferroptosis induction. It also emphasized the importance of cell organelles in the control of ferroptosis in cancer therapy. The nanomaterials that trigger ferroptosis are categorized and explained. Iron-based and noniron-based nanomaterials with their characterization at the molecular and cellular levels have been explored, which will be useful for inducing ferroptosis that leads to reduced tumor growth. Within this framework, we offer a synopsis, which traverses the well-established mechanism of ferroptosis and offers practical suggestions for the design and therapeutic use of nanomaterials.</p

Delivery of gene editing therapeutics

For the past decades, gene editing demonstrated the potential to attenuate each of the root causes of genetic, infectious, immune, cancerous, and degenerative disorders. More recently, Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats-CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR-Cas9) editing proved effective for editing genomic, cancerous, or microbial DNA to limit disease onset or spread. However, the strategies to deliver CRISPR-Cas9 cargos and elicit protective immune responses requires safe delivery to disease targeted cells and tissues. While viral vector-based systems and viral particles demonstrate high efficiency and stable transgene expression, each are limited in their packaging capacities and secondary untoward immune responses. In contrast, the nonviral vector lipid nanoparticles were successfully used for as vaccine and therapeutic deliverables. Herein, we highlight each available gene delivery systems for treating and preventing a broad range of infectious, inflammatory, genetic, and degenerative diseases. Statement of significance: CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing for disease treatment and prevention is an emerging field that can change the outcome of many chronic debilitating disorders.</p